NBA 2018-19: 3 reasons why the Lakers need to trade away Kyle Kuzma
Back in 2017, Kyle Kuzma declared for the NBA draft after playing three years of college basketball with the Utah Runnin' Utes. In the days building up to the draft, Kuzma was projected as a late second-round pick, although he was ultimately selected with the 27th overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets.
Kuzma was quickly traded to the Lakers as part of the deal that took D'Angelo Russell to Brooklyn. And after impressing during the Summer League, Kuzma quickly found himself in the Lakers rotation.
During his debut season, Kuzma was the best performing member of the team's much talked about young core, finishing his rookie year averaging 16.1 points per game. Due to his rapid impact, Kuzma was expected to become a vital player alongside LeBron James, although he has failed to build on his excellent first season.
Due to this, Kuzma's future with the franchise is in doubt. Here, we examine three reasons why the Lakers should trade away the 23-year-old this summer.
#3 Defensive limitations
While Kuzma's lack of defensive skills was evident during his rookie season, the Lakers hoped that he would improve as he gained more experience. However, despite nearing 150 NBA appearances, Kuzma remains a major liability to the Lakers' defense, and he has yet to show any potential that he can develop into a capable two-way player.
Thanks to his frame, Kuzma remains a strong rebounder (5.5 per game), but he is frequently singled out by opposition teams as LA's defensive weak link. At 34, LeBron can no longer play with the same defensive intensity as he did a decade ago, and the Lakers simply leak too many points with the forward pairing of him and Kuzma.